The Electron Leak

Contents

When you walk into the kitchen and the faucet is dripping, you tighten it, right? And if it keeps dripping, you get a repair kit or call a plumber. I know I do. And when family members leave lights on, I'm the guy who walks around turning them off. But I wandered into the den the other night when all the lights were out and was struck by the dozens of tiny LEDs in various shades of green and orange, winking at me or staring balefully. The cable modem, the router, the Ethernet switch, a couple of laptops, a battery charger, and a few desktop monitors all displayed their vital signs.

Everything was shut down for the nightbut obviously "shut down" is a relative term, since so much equipment stays on or is in low-power mode even when "off." And anything that can be turned on with a remote control is never truly off, since some portion of the electronics has to remain alive to be at your beck and call.

I decided to investigate just how much power all these gadgets were consuming. My first step was to build an AC breakout cable that I could hook up to a meter with appropriate current-measuring capabilities, and since we're talking line voltage here, to take care that the current wouldn't kill me. That done, I began plugging in various devices.

Bill Machrone is vice president of technology at Ziff Davis Publishing and editorial director of the Interactive Media and Development Group. He joined Ziff Davis in May 1983 as technical editor of PC Magazine, became editor-in-chief in September of that year, and held that position for the next eight years, while adding the titles of publisher and publishing director. During his tenure, Machrone created the tough, labs-based comparison reviews that propelled PC Magazine to the forefront of the industry and made it the seventh-largest magazine...
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